Brand new factory sealed blu-ray and dvd combo is Out Of Print (OOP) in all formats and no longer being manufactured.
A sequel to 'Willard' (1970), this picks up exactly where it left off. In fact you could also watch this after the 2003 remake. The climatic scene of the classic 'Willard' is reprised under this film's opening titles, BEN takes up the story as the rat army move out into the city and set up home in a storm-drain system.
Ben, their leader, is discovered on a foraging trip by a small boy (Lee Harcourt Montgomery); the child makes a pet of the rodent and is eventually taken by Ben to the rats hideout. Montgomery penetrates Ben's subterranean dwelling to be confronted by what seems like hundreds of rodents, is brought off with an understatement calculated to be frightening. The rats' scavenging activities trained by Ben, are causing a panic in the neighborhood, but the police are unable to trace the creatures.
Meanwhile, detective sergent Cliff Kirtland (Joseph Campanella, 'Meteor') investigates the horrifying murder of Willard Stiles by a band of rats, he discovers that the rats are now an intelligent, organized army, and he must destroy the murderous rodents before its too late. The discussion between Campanella and a sardonic reporter are invested with a formulaic kind of conviction. But the rats, led by Ben, the intelligent surviving leader of the Willard attack, takes to the challenge with full force and little fear.
Eventually the boy's mother finds Ben with her son and alerts the police. The child refuses to disclose the rats' whereabouts to investigating cop Campanella but subsequently the rats' abode is discovered anyway and Montgomery's attempt to warn the animals is thwarted. Ben survives, though, and at the last is seen making his way to Montgomery and being nursed back to health. The ending is sentimental but affecting (I can identify, I had a pet rat), and the film as a whole is pieced together with efficiancy.
Michael Jackson sings the theme song at the end which became a #1 pop single after the movie was released. It was also nominated for an Academy Award Best Original Song and later appeared as the title song on Jackson's second solo album titled, what else, BEN.